The 40th Annual Morristown Dam Days Celebration will begin with the crowning of Miss Morristown 2025 on Friday, May 30 at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 404 W Franklin St., Morristown at 5 p.m.
Miss Morristown 2024, Loryn Caldwell, will crown Miss Morristown 2025 and share her memories of the past year. There will be special guests’ appearances by Miss Minnesota Emily Schumacher and Minneapolis Aquatennial Ambassadors.

A total of 59 seniors will don caps, gowns, and tassels in anticipation of graduating from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School at 7 p.m. Friday, May 23 in the Waterville gymnasium.
Of these 59 seniors, 41 have been named honor students.
The Class of 2025 has three students who have achieved a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). They are Madeline Heuss, Kaedyn Judd, and Grace LaFrance.

Area communities will honor their local veterans during Memorial Day programs Monday, May 26.
Waterville will hold their program at 8:15 a.m. Elysian will follow with their program at 9:30 a.m. Morristown will hold their program at 11 a.m. Kilkenny will have programs at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m.
The Memorial Day Ceremony in Waterville will be held at the Memorial Park on the corner of E Hoosac St and S. 3rd Street.

With a split of two games Sunday, May 18, the WEM girls flag football team tied for the Sub-District Championship.
The Lady Bucs lost to Fairmont, 26-13, but defeated Lakeville South, 24-21, avenging an earlier season 40-14 loss to South.
South, Fairmont, and WEM each ended their Sub-District schedule with a 4-2 record. Fairmont was 6-2 overall while South and WEM were 4-4 overall.
In the loss to Fairmont, Alenka Jans completed 24-of-38 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

Ralph Kern, age 77, of rural Waseca County, passed away on May 18, 2025, at MCHS-St. Mary’s in Rochester, surrounded by his family. He was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather.

Four games in five days for the WEM softball team ended in two wins and two losses for the Lady Bucs.
All four games could have been won by either team, with all the games finishing with a one run winner.
WEM defeated Medford Thursday, May 8 by a 5-4 score. The next day WEM defeated Maple River, 8-7, in a non-conference game. Nicollet edged the Bucs, 4-3, Saturday, May 10. Monday, May 12 Blooming Prairie pulled out a 9-8 win.

Two WEM pitchers limited Medford to two hits in a 5-2 win over the Tigers Thursday, May 8 in a Gopher Conference game.
Jacob Androli pitched four innings, allowing one hit and Noah Lanham pitched three innings, allowing one hit, helping the Bucs win their second game of the season.
Androli allowed two unearned runs, three walks, and struck out six. Lanham struck out four and hit a batter in earning his first win of the season.
Brady Murphy was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, and an RBI.
Jackson Dahl was 1-for-2 with two RBI and two walks.

The City of Elysian has installed a new fishing pier at Lake Francis Park. The purchase of this pier was made possible with a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Grant – Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences).
Get Out MORE is a historic, one-time investment of $150 million to help ensure Minnesotans of all abilities and interests enjoy a world-class recreation system, whichever outdoor experience they choose. The pier was designed by Hewitt Docks and installed by The Lake Boys of Cleveland, MN.

WEM School Board members and concerned citizens met in the WEM auditorium on May 8 to hear the results of a study that could decide the fate of WEM Middle School in Morristown.
Citing the need for a neutral party, the WEM School Board commissioned an independent study, which would give a third-party opinion on how best to proceed with keeping the school district financially sound.

Video games can be many things: entertainment, escape, therapy and more. A history lesson may not be near the top of the list, but I’ve recently learned it in a game called Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (KCD2).
I invested in the game for an immersive, open-world experience. I had heard good things about the story, which received rave reviews overall. Plus, the setting, reminded me a lot of the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia.

Melvin “Butch” William Metzler, age 82, of Waseca, passed away Sunday, May 11, 2025, at the Owatonna Hospital.

Joey Lynn (Godbey) Dominick, age 45, of Waterville, passed away April 28, 2025, surrounded by family.
Joey Dominick was born on August 18, 1979, in Oak Harbor, Washington. She graduated from Rosemount High School in 1998. She also received a degree from Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute in Minneapolis. 
Joey was loved by many in Waterville’s surrounding areas. She spent years as a bartender, serving those she cared about. She loved the outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Bernita Helena (Roemhildt) Knutson, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 13, 2025, while surrounded by family at Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire, WI, at the age of 74.

A beautiful late Sunday afternoon gave the WEM girls flag football team a chance to showcase their talents in front of a large crowd of spectators in Waterville.
The Buccaneers held on to their place on top of the Sub-District Standings with a split of two games.
WEM dropped a 40-14 contest to Lakeville South and defeated Lakeville North for the second time this season, 21-6.
The Bucs are tied with Lakeville South with a 3-1 record. Fairmont is 2-2 overall and Lakeville North in 0-4 overall.

Cody Vernon Kolstad, 35, was sentenced Friday, May 2 to 300 months in prison for the intentional murder of Brian Daniel Stoeckel, 41, in Morristown on May 31, 2022.
On March 28, 2025, Kolstad pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree intentional murder. In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors dismissed a first-degree intentional murder charge.

Janet Arlene Lillian (Krueger) Schmidtke, age 94, formerly of Waterville, died on the evening of Sunday, May 4, 2025, at The Willows of Arbor Lakes Memory Care in Maple Grove.